by Mel LeBrun
“Perhaps you should tell him that.” Dmitri smirked as he started the car.
No matter what Andrei thought of him, he would never tell Milovich. Milovich trusted Dmitri and held him in high regard. To question Milovich's judgment would be a grave mistake.
As they pulled out of the parking lot, Dmitri's phone rang. He looked at the number, but didn't recognize it. “Hello?” he answered.
“It's me,” Michael greeted him.
Dmitri closed the phone and stuck it back in his pocket. “Must have been a wrong number.” He shrugged it off. “Tell you what, we'll stop at one more motel and then we can go to Boston.”
“It's a waste of time!” Andrei looked like he wanted to kill him.
“Fine, then I'll go in and you can wait in the car.”
“Whatever.”
Andrei stared out the window completely disgusted with Dmitri.
They arrived at the motel a few minutes later. Dmitri got out alone and walked to the office. He handed the clerk a ten dollar bill and asked to make a phone call.
Michael had stopped at a pay phone on the way to the club so he could call Dmitri with his new number and to touch base. When Dmitri hung up on him, he knew he wasn't alone. He waited by the phone for a few minutes in case he called back. He was getting ready to leave when it rang.
“It's me,” Dmitri spoke in Russian.
Michael wasn't quite sure why, but he replied in Russian. “Just thought I'd check in and give you my new number. Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“Well, my job just got a whole lot more interesting.”
“What's going on? And why the Russian?”
“I'm in a public place. Don't want eavesdroppers. Vlad called in some extra help to find you. A GRU kid. I've been stuck with him ever since you rescued Jessica. I knew about the hit on Gomez, but I could do nothing to stop it. I heard you got to him first and was very relieved. I don't have much time. He's waiting in the car for me.”
“All right, I won't keep you then. Just wanted to give you my new number.” Michael rattled off his phone number.
“Got it. We're heading to Boston now. Anywhere I should stay clear of?”
Michael told him some of the areas they frequented, roads they traveled and about where they were staying. Dmitri said he would do what he could to keep away from those areas. He also gave Michael a description of the car they were driving and the plates so he could be on alert. Michael thanked him and they hung up.
Chapter 61
Kevin arrived at the hacker club and waited in his truck in the parking lot across the street. Michael and Jessica arrived shortly after. Kevin lit up when he first saw Jessica, but then almost as quickly his expression turned to concern and anger as he viewed the bruises on her face. He walked quickly to her and took her in his arms, grateful she was alive. They continued walking together to the back door.
Kevin went directly to the back room where the computers were. Michael glanced around the club, then his eyes fell on Jessica. She nervously wrung her hands as she aimlessly paced.
Michael stepped over to her. “Are you okay?”
She took a deep breath. “I'm okay. Just nervous.”
“These are your friends, Jess. From what I saw, they care about you a great deal. I don't think you need to worry about what they'll think of you.”
She closed her eyes and nodded. She didn't want her friends to see her all beat up. She was imagining their reactions and she dreaded it. She felt embarrassed and weak because she couldn't protect herself. It was something she struggled with since she was a child being used as a punching bag by her father.
Michael looked at his watch. “They should start arriving soon. I'm going to check the surveillance video.”
Michael went to the back room where Kevin was turning on the computers and looking over the security feed. He looked up as Michael entered the room.
“I'll keep an eye on the cameras,” Michael offered. “Why don't you keep Jessica company?”
“Sure.”
“Don't let anyone in unless I say to,” he instructed.
Kevin stopped in the doorway and turned to him. “Are you expecting trouble?”
“I'm just being cautious.” Michael didn't take his eyes off the monitor.
Kevin watched him for a few more seconds and then joined Jessica in the club.
Suki was the first to arrive. He knocked on the back door and Michael hollered that it was okay to let him in. He greeted Kevin with such warmth and enthusiasm, you would think they were related if it weren't for the dramatic difference in their looks. His happy, carefree mood changed quickly though when he saw Jessica.
“Oh my god, baby doll what happened?!” He ran over to her, his face filled with deep concern.
“I'm okay. Just a car accident.” She tried to shrug it off, but couldn't hide her nervousness.
“Car accident, my ass! Who did this to you?”
Jessica started trembling and felt like she was going to be sick. This was exactly what she had been worrying would happen.
Suki turned to Kevin, who gave him a look telling him to stop talking. He looked back at her and didn't know what to say. With little options left, he reached out his arms and gave her a hug. Another knock came at the back door. Michael said it was okay and in came Jinx. She greeted Kevin a little more sedately than Suki. However, she quickly noticed Jessica's condition and Suki protectively hovering and became just as concerned and distressed as he was.
“What happened?” she asked softly as she reached out and touched her arm. “Did Jake do this to you?”
“Jake?” Jessica forgot that Michael had introduced himself as Jake and for a second didn't know who she was talking about.
“Your boyfriend?” Jinx replied, confused, not realizing that Michael was there.
“No. No, Jake didn't do this.” Jessica caught herself and managed to recover by acting as though her confusion was because Jake would have never hurt her, not that she didn't know who he was.
“Guys.” Kevin motioned for Suki and Jinx to come to him. They reluctantly stepped away from Jessica.
“Look, she's been through a lot. Just ease up a bit. We'll explain it all when everyone is here. For now,” he looked over at her, “stop asking questions.”
Suki and Jinx looked at each other and then back at Kevin and nodded. Jinx offered Jessica a drink from the bar, which she readily accepted, and the three sat down as Kevin continued to man the back door.
Phuzz and Snipe arrived together, and Sun showed a few minutes later. Kevin gave them the same pep talk he gave Suki and Jinx before he let them inside. Once everyone arrived, Michael emerged from the backroom. He said hello to everyone at the bar and then walked over to Kevin.
“I'd like to meet in the back so I can keep an eye on the security feed.”
“Oh, there's no need for that.” Kevin went to the computer room and a minute later the surveillance feed appeared on the flat screen TVs scattered around the club. Kevin returned a few seconds later.
“Nice,” Michael remarked. “You could have done that sooner.”
“Sorry. I didn't think of it.”
Michael gathered everyone to one of the lounge areas just under one of the TVs.
“Thank you for coming. Summer and I appreciate it.”
“What's this all about?” Snipe asked.
“We need your help with something that's not legal and not exactly safe. There is a lot of risk involved. If you don't want to take part, then you should leave now.”
Sun and Jinx shifted nervously in their seats and they all glanced around at each other and then back at Michael.
Snipe sat forward in his seat. “You didn't answer the question.”
Michael looked directly at him. “No. I didn't.”
He panned the room making eye contact with everyone and then continued. “What I'm about to tell you could put your lives in danger. I need you all to understand this. There is no turning back. Just knowing what I'm about
to tell you will put your life at risk without you even doing anything. We really need your help or else I wouldn't involve you at all. We're going to be careful, but the danger is real and it is serious. Am I clear?”
“Who the hell are you and what did you get her into?” Snipe asked, clearly agitated. He verbalized what many of them were thinking.
“This isn't Jake's fault.” Jessica spoke up. “He saved my life. More than once now. He's trying to help me.”
Kevin was confused by the name change. No one had told him that Michael was using an alias, and he wondered which name was Michael's real one.
“What if we want to back out after hearing what you want us to do?” Phuzz asked.
“That's fine,” Michael replied. “However, you will still be at risk because you will know the situation. That's the point I'm trying to make. Once you know, you could become a target. Whether you help us or not.”
“How would anyone know that we know?” Jinx asked.
“If someone gets sloppy. The more people who know, the more risk there is of that happening. If any one of you slips up, it could endanger everyone here.”
“I guess we better not slip up then,” Suki replied confidently. “I'm in.”
One by one everyone agreed. Michael began the story in China and ended with Gomez's rescue. He left out some details like names and how many people he'd killed already. He also didn't go into great detail about Jessica's abduction, mostly glossing over it. Jinx reached out and squeezed her hand while he explained what happened to her. He told them of Jessica's desire to hack into the CIA to get the proof they need. He finished speaking and waited for reactions.
It was quiet. Sun, Jinx, and Suki glanced around at Jessica and the others while Snipe and Phuzz stared at the floor.
“We're going to need a lot of bots,” Snipe said still staring at the floor.
Suki smiled. “Attack of the zombies.”
“You think this is a joke?” Michael snapped, not understanding why they started talking about robots and zombies. They looked at him confused.
“They're talking about computer bots,” Jessica explained, knowing Michael wouldn't have a clue what they were talking about.
“A bot is simply software that works over the Internet running automated tasks. A zombie is a computer that's been infected with a bot and can be used without the owner's knowledge. A botnet is comprised of many zombie computers being controlled by one entity, also known as a zombie army.”
“I guess you weren't far off when you likened it to a military operation.”
She smiled.
“So how is this going to work?” Michael asked.
“Two ways,” Kevin stepped in. “One, with thousands or hopefully, hundreds of thousands of computers at our disposal, we'll have the computing power of a super computer, or two. That should help us with cracking through their security and also with the search of their servers. Second, we can use the rest of the army to cause a distraction, making obvious attempts to wreck havoc that should divert their focus while we sneak in the back. The longer we can keep them from noticing us the better.”
“That sounds too easy. Why hasn't anyone else done it?” Michael asked.
“Because it's not that easy,” Jessica answered. “There is a lot more to it. Programming the bots, controlling the bots, breaking through firewalls and encryption protocols and searching their servers for the relevant data.”
“And all that has to be done in just a few minutes,” Jinx chimed in. “Even if we do manage to break in, they will not put up with a sustained attack. If they can't stop it, they will lock down their networks and cut all outside lines until they can plug the holes. Most of our work will be in prepping with the programming so we can automate the attack.”
“I think we can also guarantee they will eventually trace the hack. We can't do it from here,” Phuzz added.
“I've been working on that,” Kevin stepped forward. “I'm hoping to have everything lined up by the end of the week.”
“How?” Michael wanted to know how Kevin would secure a location without any trace to himself.
“I've been hacking into utility companies to get power and fiber optic access at an abandoned industrial building. They should be installing the fiber optic cable later this week. We probably have a month before they notice what happened.”
Michael was impressed. He glanced around at the others. “So? Who's in?”
“We all are, dog,” Suki spoke for everyone. “But we're going to need more help.”
Michael turned to Kevin. “Thoughts?”
“I have three others in mind. Element, SpaceBird and ClosedCasket.”
Michael must have been the only one there who didn't know them. Everyone but him nodded their heads in agreement.
Kevin continued. “We've known all of them for a long time, and they're trustworthy. Element is a hacker in South Africa. He has a decent-sized botnet and the skills we need to help pull this off. ClosedCasket is in Australia. We could really use his programming skills creating a program to control the bots and make them do what we need them to do. SpaceBird is in Norway and has the largest botnet out of all of us. His alone is bigger than the rest of ours put together.”
“How many does he have now?” Sun asked.
“Over half a million last I heard.”
Suki and Snipe whistled.
“So wait, you guys have your own botnets?” Michael asked. He knew they were hackers, but he didn't realize to what extent.
“We share one,” Kevin answered.
“What do you do with it?”
Michael wasn't even sure he wanted to know the answer to that question and quickly decided he didn't.
“Actually, you know what, I don't want to know. Do you think they'll help us?”
“I'm sure they will,” Kevin answered confidently.
“All right. Tell them only what they need to know. I'd like to minimize our exposure where we can.”
Kevin nodded. “We can get started now if everyone is game.”
“Let's do it.” Snipe stood up. The others soon followed and headed towards the computer room.
Kevin turned to Michael. “I'll need Jessica's help.”
“Yeah, sure. We can stay.”
“There's a remote behind the bar. If you get bored, you can watch TV. You can help yourself to the bar as well.”
“I'll pass on the booze, but thanks. I'll be fine.” Michael smiled insincerely. He knew what he was in for. Hours of nothing.
Chapter 62
Dmitri took advantage of the drive to Boston to ask Andrei questions about his work for Milovich. What kind of work he'd done, where and with who. Andrei recited a few stories, but Dmitri got the feeling there were many more that he kept to himself. The ringing of Dmitri's phone interrupted their conversation. It was Milovich.
“Hello,” he answered in Russian.
“I have an address for you. Looks like our friend in the CIA isn't completely useless after all.”
“What is it?”
“My contact had his men look into the cafe computer Nickoli was using. She accessed an email account. They were able to trace one of her regular contacts to an address in Boston. It's an apartment rented to a woman named Jasmine Flores. I want you and Andrei to check it out.” He gave Dmitri the address.
“Why didn't we get this sooner?” he asked.
“Apparently, it took some work tracking it down and it wasn't given high priority. Either way, I don't really care. See what information you can get from her, and then clean it up.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
Milovich hung up without another word.
Dmitri put his phone back in his pocket. “We have a lead.”
“Good.” Andrei was thankful. He didn't want to spend the day searching motels with Dmitri again.
Chapter 63
Hours passed and Michael was bored out of his skull when Jinx emerged from the back. She smiled and greeted him as she walked to the bar.
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“You want anything to drink?” she asked.
“No, thank you.”
She poured herself a beer and sat down next to him. She took a large sip and sighed.
“How's it going in there?” he asked.
“Well, I'm drinking. That should tell you something.”
Michael smirked. “That good huh?”
“There's a minor disagreement on what proportion of zombies should be used for the diversion verses the actual hack.”
“I see. Have the other hackers been contacted?”
“Yeah. That's kind of how the argument started,” she chuckled. “Summer will have final say though. She's the only one who's actually done it before.” She took another sip of her beer.
“Is that why you're here instead of in there?”
“Yep.” She smiled. “I don't feel like arguing.”
He nodded, thankful he wasn't part of it.
“So,” she hesitated. “You and Summer. Are you two really a thing?”
He looked at her. She had a curious look in her eyes and a slight grin on her lips.
“Yeah.” He smiled and looked back at the TV. “We're a thing.”
“Cool.” She continued drinking her beer. “Were you really in Special Forces?”
He looked at her again, wondering why she was so inquisitive. “Yeah, I was. Why?”
“I've never met anyone who was in Special Forces before. It's kinda cool.” She was grinning shyly and staring down at her drink. “I've always had a thing for military men.”
“Why? We make terrible boyfriends,” he blurted.
“What? Why?” She looked at him perplexed.
“We're gone a lot. Every time we leave, there's a chance we'll come home in a body bag. If your boyfriends is in Special Forces, he can't tell you where he's going or talk about it when he gets back. He'll keep secrets from you and typically won't like to talk about things.” He looked at her. “It seems more glamorous than it really is.”
Jinx had stopped smiling. Her playful, giddy demeanor had changed to one of dismay at Michael's enlightening portrayal. “Well, when you put it like that.”